


Familiar Trials

by Yuni30



Series: Nymph Hugs [7]
Category: Ni no Kuni
Genre: Familiar training, Familiars, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, Nymphs - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 16:43:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14109642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuni30/pseuds/Yuni30
Summary: Preparations don't always include gathering supplies, especially with a new member. Orientation is necessary.(This work can also be found as a drabble chapter for "Nymph Hugs" over on Fanfiction.net along with its sibling works.)





	Familiar Trials

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Like A Brother](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/366636) by Wherever Girl. 



> Heyya! I decided to write another one about the familiars from my end. I kind of wanted to write about how I switched it up with Swaine's party but from the group's perspective. Also, some minor fluff with a Lagoon Naiad… Cause I love the Nymphaea genus. They're adorable.
> 
> Shout out to [Moonbird](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/1576308/moonbird) for being the first to review this mess of drabbles. They've given me some new perspective on things in and out of the game. Thanks for the lovely chat we've been having!
> 
> Disclaimer: Hah! You thought it was a person who had rights to the game, but it was I, Yuni! (Self-disclaimer: Yuni does not watch Jo-jo's Bizarre Adventure, she just knows that one joke.)

Joining Oliver and Esther in their travels was going to be more trouble than he thought. Their "preparations" weren't just gathering supplies.

The two had decided to see what role in the group their newest addition played.

"I thought I made it clear," the thief began, following the kids out of Castaway Cove. "What part of 'packing a punch' do you not understand?" He shook his head as they entered the bayous just outside of town. "We don't have time for this."

Esther wagged a finger at Swaine, walking backward with a cheeky smile on her face. "Ah, ah, ah! We've got to see what familiars do good with you in a fight!" She giggled and turned back around.

They came to a clearing. The young wizard turned around and asked the lanky man to call on his familiar- to which he obliged. When the Hurly came out, Oliver took out the creature cage and took a small peek inside. "Alright. I want to try something different with you, Swaine." He closed the cage and looked back at their newest member. "Do you think you can do without Gunthur as your familiar for now?"

Swaine stepped back apprehensively. Gunthur was the first and only familiar he ever conjured- he felt lucky to even have him. What did the boy plan to do with him? "Why," he asked, eyes narrowing.

"I want to see about a unique set up. We want to see what works for you, so I know who to give it to after we tame something," Oliver calmly explained, smiling at the thief.

The thief eyed the wizard suspiciously. He looked down to Gunthur who turned to face him with a grunt. He looked back up at the young red-head. "What happens to Gunthur?"

"Huh? Well…," the wizard scratched his head with his wand.

"We'll put him in someplace nice and safe," Esther reassured, familiar with the process.

Oliver nodded affirmatively. "Yeah. He'll be fine! You can even go see him!"

Swaine sighed, looking down at his stout burly familiar. The hurly pounded itself on the chest with one fist. "I guess it's par for the course, boy." The man looked back to the small creature cage, then knelt down to almost eye level with his small muscle-bound friend. "Go on," he coaxed gently, smiling.

Gunthur turned around and, with a grunt, jumped into the creature cage, disappearing.

The first combination of familiars, the thief soon found was, for lack of a better term, disappointing.

Oliver, for some reason, had the sense to give him a little bighorn as one of his partners, a bird-like creature that hoisted itself around using two large horns.

The thief raised an eyebrow at it, unsure of the seemingly avian creature. Eryk tilted its head in response and mimicked its new master's look. "So, what now," Swaine asked while putting his hands on his hips and tapping his foot. It wasn't like the boat was going to leave them, but he'd rather leave sooner than later.

"I send out a familiar and we see how you do," the boy cheered happily. He sent out a mighty mite he called Bitworl.

A sparring match, then? Swaine thought. He shrugged- better against a newfound ally than a wild beast, he reasoned. "Ready," the thief shouted optimistically to his new familiar. Eryk gave him a disdainful look.

In seconds, Bitworl was rushing toward the two, ready to strike them down. Swaine proceeded to do as he usually did with his former familiar…

He found out quickly how hard that beak was, though it wasn't the creature's own. Bitworl stopped in its tracks. The small soldier, along with its master looked on in shock while a confused Swaine was being pecked on the head by Eryk repeatedly. The creature had somehow managed to jump onto the man's shoulder, leaving its horns behind.

"The hell- Get off! You're supposed to attack Oliver's familiar, not me!" Swaine struggled for a moment before recalling the ornery beast. He bent over and caught his breath and then glowered at Oliver. "Was he always that way?"

"Eryk," Esther asked rhetorically, disbelief creeping into her voice. "No. He's always been a sweetheart…" She thought for a moment. "What did you tell him to do," she accused from a nearby log.

"Nothing. I just told him to attack and then…" He made a broad gesture to the even more frazzled mess his clothes were in now, thanks to the masked familiar. "Well. This."

The wizard scratched the back of his head with his wand apologetically, looking away. "Yeah, sorry. He probably just doesn't agree with you as a master or something." His cheery disposition returned. "Try the others. Maybe they'll work."

Swaine continued to frown as he straightened himself up. He crossed his arms and tapped his foot again. "I still don't see what's wrong with Gunthur."

"Just do it," Esther wined, annoyed at the thief's stubbornness.

The next one he received was a bonehead- a literal skeleton- named Markov. "What kind of name is 'Markov'," he criticized. He actually liked the idea of using a skeleton to fight. It added a bit of an intimidating edge.

Oliver shrugged. "Sometimes I think of weird names for them and they stick." Swaine shot him a look. The kid may have been just as crazy as he first appeared.

The bonehead took to the man well, to his surprise. The only issue the thief found was how weak the undead soldier was. Such a shame, he thought. He had really hoped for a powerhouse of a familiar. Not… this. He shook his head solemnly as he called Markov back.

"No good, huh? Uh… Well… The next one's kind of odd. It mostly uses abilities to attack."

"Abilities," Swaine exclaimed. "You realize I'm not a heavy magic user, right? Let's just say It's never been my forte." He held his hands out and looked down at the patch of dirt at his feet.

"But…," the wizard began, surprised.

"You can summon familiars," the blond finished, narrowing her eyes. "You're probably just lazy and didn't put in the effort."

The thief looked at the girl, a knowing smirk on his face. "Oh, I put in a quite a bit of effort learning the ins and outs of the craft." He placed a hand on his hip, pivoting to slightly face her. "I just don't have the power." He turned his head to face Oliver. Let's hope it's at least useful. He thought, eager to see what was in store.

The next familiar assigned to him was Gemini, a small, jellyfish-like companion that held a magenta gem in its nubs. Its face seemed kind of vacant of expression at first, but it quickly replaced that expression when it saw its new master. Swaine found it odd that it beamed so happily up at him. What did it find so lovely?

Bitworl was sent out again. Gemini was commanded forward to attack. When told to strike, it attempted to swat at its opponent with small tendrils. The mighty mite simply took the hits. They didn't do too much damage. To the man, it wasn't much of a fighter and perhaps even weaker than the skeleton.

Just when Swaine thought he had seen enough, the tiny water creature countered its sparring partner. He, who had his face in his palms looked up to see Gemini swatting away the broadsword. The tiny warrior backed away, readying a larger attack.

For an instant, the thief saw through the eyes of the jellyfish-like nymph. While it wasn't a devastating attack, it wasn't anything to sneeze at either. When Bitworl began to slice through the air, Swaine instinctively shielded himself, still keeping an eye on the action through a gap in his arms.

Gemini had found a space in the attack to hide its face in its own appendages, nimbly dodging slices without getting hit.

Once the onslaught was through, Oliver called back his familiar. Leaving the thief to stare at his last trial partner. He looked down at the small creature, its face still beaming up at him with pride. It bounced the gem in its stubby paws like a child bouncing a ball and then looked back up.

"You're quite the nimble one, aren't you? Too bad, though. You don't have the power or strength I'm looking for." He held his hands out, shaking his head slowly, sadly. The small creature looked down at the ground, its smile gone.

What is it sad for? It didn't work out. That's just how things are. Swaine thought, raising an eyebrow.

"So, what do you think," Esther began, looking at the familiar/master pair.

"I don't know…" Their older companion scratched the back of his head and looked up at the sky. He looked at the young wizard. "Got any beasts? I'll keep the skeleton, but he needs some work," he asked, giving up on the idea of asking for his old familiar back.

"I do have one. I don't use him that much, though… What about the others?" Oliver looked down to the lagoon naiad who had her head even lower. "Gee," the boy began, use to seeing a vacant expression on its face. "It sure doesn't look happy."

"Yeah, what did you do, Swaine," the girl demanded scathingly, walking up to him.

Swaine put on a nonchalant front, a smirk on his face and his arms crossed. "Do? I didn't do anything. I just don't know if this one's particularly…," he paused and to the two, something important dawned on him. He turned back to Oliver quickly with a more focused look. "Hey, kid," he started.

"It's Oliver," the three corrected, one of them actually surprising the thief. The fairy had actually been pretty quiet this whole time. Either that or Swaine had been tuning him out over the noise of the fights. Now that the man thought of it, it was possible Drippy had been distracted by something.

"Right, Oliver. Got it," he swiftly corrected himself. "Anyway. How much do you use Gemini, here?"

"You don't use it much, now that I think about it," the girl noted, leaning her head to the side and putting her hand on her chin in thought.

"He doesn't use it at all," Drippy confirmed, nodding from his place below everyone else.

Swaine nodded, a knowing smirk growing on his face. "I'll take it then," he accepted as he looked down gently at the jellyfish.

At those words, the nymph's face brightened back up and was back to beaming at its new owner. It threw the gem in its hand up and floated up to catch it, repeating this process until it was safely above the thief's head. It slowly drifted down and snuggled into the mess of brown hair.

"Hey, what are you up to," Swaine asked with a half chuckle, raising his right hand in response to the sudden addition to his head. The nymph shifted sleepily.

Esther, puzzled, smiled at the adorable site. The naiad had never before seemed so content to the others. "Why'd you change your mind," she asked curiously.

It took a moment for the question to register as their new companion was, distractedly, petting the sleeping Gemini, a small fond and comfortable smile contradicting the constantly tired look. He stopped and put his hand down. He frowned in recollection and the expression made his entire person seem even more worn out than it was. "Let's just say," he began solemnly.

Not wanting to divulge any secrets, his eyes shifted to something nearby. "I know a thing or two about being 'unwanted' by someone. Let's leave it at that."

Silence prevailed, and the others looked down at the ground, taking in what Swaine had admitted.

"Well, you're wanted here. And so is Gunthur," Esther happily encouraged.

The thief's focus shifted back to the two youthful faces suddenly when he heard his old familiar's name. "I do want him back on my team…," he thought aloud as he scratched the back of his head. His eyes glanced to the side in thought, frowning. "Ah, hell." He shook his head with a smile. "We'll see what happens with this bunch. Gunthur could use a nice break."

**Author's Note:**

> And that break became indefinite. Because I never put that guy back in. Sorry, Swaine. You _do_ get a big fluffy snow monster later in my version.
> 
> Eryk never did well with Swaine and he was one of the first ones I added. Let's just say thief-boy here kept falling on his face. He did a lot better when I introduced Vemahl, the Dumbelemur.
> 
> Anyway, review if you want. I'm going to go write about Swaine being in one of his favorite places… The Winter Isles. *Hears a distant defiant shout in despair.* Like I said, reviews are welcome and try not to get pickpocketed. Bye! *Runs before shots are fired.*


End file.
